SMERC Seminar: Sharing Data-Centric Adaptations in the Biology Classroom
Perspectives and practices in sharing data-centric adaptations in the biology classroom: How, why and where are instructors sharing these high-impact pedagogies?Dr. Kaitlin M. BonnerAssistant Professor, Biology DepartmentSt. John Fisher CollegeAbstract:Data-driven experiences using authentic research data enables students to engage in the scientific process while also promoting the development of quantitative literacy in undergraduate biology students. Increased accessibility to research data through public repositories and curated datasets has enabled instructors to greatly enhance their classroom experiences both in teaching biological concepts and facilitating the development of student quantitative skills. The importance of these high-impact pedagogies is well-established and most instructors are aware of, and use, these resources. However, incorporating these pedagogies into the biology classroom is not ubiquitous. The open educational resources (OER) life cycle, where instructors find and use resources, adapt the material for their own classroom and context, and then share their adapted work with others, has the potential for promoting more wide-spread dissemination of the resource and the adapted work demonstrates clearly how others have been successful at implementing the resource. Most resources fall short of capitalizing on the full potential due to persistent gaps in completing the OER life cycle of the resource. Resources are used and often adapted in the classroom, but these adaptations are not as likely to be shared with the broader community of educators. Here we present the results of our survey on the use, adaptation, and sharing of data-driven resources in the context of OER, as part of our NSF-funded Research Coordination Network (RCN) Undergraduate Biology Education (UBE) Incubator Award.Speaker Bio:Kaitlin Bonner is an Assistant Professor at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY. She is the PI, with Co-PIs Dr. Kristine Grayson, Dr. Arietta Fleming-Davies, and Dr. X. Ben Wu, on the NSF-funded RCN-UBE: Designing an Infrastructure and Sustainable Learning Community for Integrating Data-Centric Teaching Resources in Undergraduate Biology Education. Kaitlin is a population geneticist with a focus on molecular ecology and parasitology, and has extensive background and interest in the development of open education modules and teaching with data in her own undergraduate courses.Intended Audience:No background knowledge required. All are welcome.
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